


The Way The Cookie Crumbles

by Lord_KH



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Childhood Memories, Developing Relationship, For Lulu, Hurt/Comfort, Inner Dialogue, Past Lives, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Doubt, Shadows Need Love Too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27738043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_KH/pseuds/Lord_KH
Summary: Naoto finds herself in a dream facing down the one person she never wanted to see again: her Shadow. She's confident she's grown past it, but what if the Shadow still has more to teach her? A fun prompt featuring characters created by my friend Lulu!
Relationships: Shadow Shirogane Naoto/Shirogane Naoto, Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Kudos: 13





	The Way The Cookie Crumbles

“What about this one!? It has a motor-powered net to catch cowardly criminals where they stand!”

“ _ -Sigh- _ No…”

“Oh, oh! Then this one, then!? The gas that comes out is only partially lethal!”

“I  _ just _ said -”

“But they could  _ help _ you! Shadows are scary - rawr! It’s only fair that you smash them to bits with my awesome weaponry! Right, RoRo!?”

“ _ Bzzrrt _ ”

(* ^ ω ^)

“Oh, for the love of…!”

Naoto plunged her face into her hands, the handful of patience she started with already at its end. What had been a fruitful early evening of study in her room had devolved into farce - she remembered closing her eyes for just a moment, only to find herself in a place she hoped to never see again. Garish green fog, caution tape-like yellow and black concrete and a mysterious logo planted on flags hanging all about? Consoles and operating tables, surrounded by devious machinery? This was the Secret Laboratory, the place she had been spirited away to after being kidnapped by the desperate Taro Namatame last year. 

Being that it was inside the world on the other side of the television, Naoto’s heightened desires and imagination were contorted and made physical. Evidently, her childhood love of having secret bases in trees combined with her predilection for science fiction comic books and TV shows had given birth to the abomination she was standing in now. 

But this was surely just a dream, she thought. She kept meaning to pinch herself in order to prove it, but for some strange reason her body betrayed her and refused, prolonging this nightmare. Story of her life. 

“So you’ll play with them? Huh!? Huh!? Will you!?”

And then there was  _ this.  _ The TV World was reality turned up to 11, and along with that came a clone, a “shadow,” of herself that was equally bizarre. The clone had her face (aside from distressing yellow pupils) and clothes, but distinguished itself by a lab coat that was  _ several _ sizes too big, along with an unsettlingly childish attitude. Its emotions flipped on a dime, attention was lost as soon as it was found, and it just generally seemed impish in nature.

The Detective Prince was thoroughly humiliated by it, precisely because it picked at something she had always tried to hide. She was still young, only 16, but had acted above her age for as long as she could remember. Her shadow self reflected an attitude she  _ never _ remembered having - but secretly  _ wished _ she could have had. Any semblance of irreverence or glee for her favorite toys and media had been snuffed out early, a response to a cruel world that had hardened her heart. It alienated her from her peers, sure, but that was her burden to bear.

Or at least, it  _ had _ been.

What started off as an intriguing, unusual case in a small town near where she lived had become a life-altering experience. Not only was she almost a victim of the serial criminal that plagued the sleepy citizens of Inaba, but she had also come out of the experience with something new:  _ friends _ . Honest-to-goodness friends, who seemed to like her for who she was. It was something she had come to find she didn’t want to ever live without again, despite her insecurities. All the little things about her she found untenable - her diminutive height, her self-seriousness, her confusion about gender and how to present - were represented by the little troll she found herself dealing with now.

“I have no use for your little gadgets,” Naoto sneered, crossing her arms tightly across her black Yasogami High School uniform, “And even if I did, you and I  _ both _ know they are just toys.”

The fact that it was standing in front of her at all was further proof of a false reality. Naoto’s friends had, in fact, beaten back this creature, forcing Naoto to confront it. Once she had, it had morphed into a being of power known as Sukuna Hikona, her Persona, the other self. Those foibles became a source of strength, enabling Naoto to perform wondrous acts of magic through her Persona when she was in the TV World. Shadow Naoto was gone, doomed to be a part of the real Naoto’s eternal internal battle with herself. 

Given the tears welling up in Shadow Naoto’s eyes, her remarks had struck a nerve. “Yuh-you’re always so mean to me! I just want to help! Wuh-why won’t you let me!?” Naoto didn’t like her own natural voice on a good day, let alone the distorted wailing coming from her double. It tried wiping its nose, rubbing the dangling sleeves of its lab coat across its face like it was a toddler. 

Next to it stood a blocky, nearly 8 foot tall humanoid robot, who appeared to exist in a 3D space but had a 2D shape. It buzzed, the “face” on the LCD display of its head mirroring its masters with digital tears streaming from beady pixelated eyes and its clawed hands clutching the sides of its big spherical head

(｡╯︵╰｡)

As a child, Naoto had drawn the only kind of friend she had wanted: a friendly robot named RoRo. He was programmed, she decided, to be loyal to her, no matter what. She was more happy with that then having to risk making a real friend and getting hurt. Since he had only existed as a childhood drawing, his dimension-tearing appearance and crude coloring made sense; the TV World must have conjured him up directly from the drawing. Naoto could only roll her eyes at the pitiful pair before her.

“I’m not  _ trying _ to be mean,” she stated, confidently walking towards them, “But you need to start behaving like a grown-up. These are all toys, this lab is a toy...and toys are for children.”

“Buh-but I  _ like _ being a child” It sniffled back, which surprised Naoto. It had previously reflected her desire to be an adult. “It’s  _ fun! _ You said that I  _ wuh-was _ you!” 

Naoto found herself a little stunned, swallowing back a fast comeback when confronted with an uncomfortable truth. She  _ had _ agreed that this thing was a part of her, but why was it here now? And why had it changed course so suddenly?

Either way, her silence opened up a window of attack from her Shadow. “RoRo and I watch, y’know! We see you with that boy, Kanji-chan!” Naoto was sure that if her dream self would have let her, her face would be blushing hard. RoRo nodded his own affirmation, getting a cheeky cat emoticon on his face-screen. “He looks like he wants to play with you, but you’re no  _ fun! _ I...I could show you how to have fun...RoRo and I could…”

“ _ Bzrttt! Booooop!”  _ RoRo’s face shifted once again to reflect Shadow Naoto’s words.

_(／_^)／ ● ＼(^_＼)_  
  
---  
  
“I-I don’t need your help!” Naoto lobbied back, hating that there was shakiness in her voice. This was  _ just _ a dream, she told herself, there was no need to act like anything being said mattered.

Kanji Tatsumi was a  _ complicated  _ subject, to say the least. He was one of the friends whom she had come to know over the past year, and since he was in her grade too, they often spent a disproportionate amount of time together. He had a reputation as a bit of a delinquent, but it betrayed a soft side and a passion for craftwork that wasn’t at all apparent from his scary outward appearance. Over time, Naoto had come to know him quite well, but lately she had wanted... _ more _ . What “more” meant, she didn’t really know, but in asking him to spend time together after school, she often found him elusive, cagey. In fact, around her he seemed to gain qualities he lacked elsewhere: a stutter, a near-constant blush, and he became more awkward than usual. And also like usual, Naoto figured  _ she  _ was at fault, assuming her years of loneliness and isolation were harming her ability to read social cues. 

While there may have been  _ some _ truth to that, Shadow Naoto seemed sure that she had the real answer. “Liar, liar, pants on fire! You just don’t know how to play. But…” Shadow Naoto quickly shuffled over (it was difficult in the coat) and grabbed the two plastic toys she had offered Naoto earlier, “You can play with us. Right, RoRo?”

o(≧▽≦)o  
  
---  
  
It was hard to understand the logic of the situation, but Naoto was beginning to realize the little thing... _ she _ had a point. Naoto  _ did _ want to learn how to be more loose, and she sometimes  _ did _ feel that she still tried to act too much like a grown-up. After all, Kanji was even younger than her; maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to just slow down and be a kid sometimes. 

“Hmm...A-alright,” she sighed, a hand on her chin in thought, “If it would put Kanji-kun at ease...Will you teach me? To play?”

Shadow Naoto’s eyes lit up. “Y-yes, I will, I will! Did you hear that, RoRo!?”

“ _ Wizzrt!” _

(´• ω •`) ♡

Shadow Naoto turned and looked back at her with a sly grin, which caused her to tense up. What was going on in that troubled, brilliant little mind? She got her answer when Shadow Naoto marched up to her and suddenly shook out the arm of one sleeve so she could reach inside the lab coat, pulling out a small rectangular box. Once it was popped open she pulled out one of its contents: a mid-sized cookie, shaped like the dinosaur  _ Triceratops _ .

Naoto laughed, feeling nostalgic as Shadow Naoto pointed the cookie directly at her. “Before we play, remember this: if you share a cookie with someone, you’re bonded to that person for life. That’s lesson #1!”

As a child, Naoto could remember frequently sneaking into her Grandpa’s pantry and engineering how to reach the tall shelf so she could feast on the dinosaur-shaped cookies he often used to give her as an afternoon snack. Clearly Shadow Naoto didn’t forget, and it was proof of her cleverness: Kanji was quite fond of animal crackers himself, particularly penguin-shaped ones. It was good advice, something Naoto hoped she would remember when she woke up from whatever this was.

With a warm smile, Naoto reached out and squeezed her fingers around the head of the cookie, nodding and tugging at the same time as her silly counterpart. The brittle cookie gave way, and both Naotos popped their piece into their mouths, laughing together as they did. While there was a world of doubt and anxiety to wake up to, she was at least happy to know that she still wasn’t alone, and that RoRo and her Shadow would always be there to guide her should she find herself stuck.

**Author's Note:**

> Notes for The Way The Cookie Crumbles:
> 
> \- Thanks for reading! I wanted to do this as a proof of concept that I could write prompts on short-notice, as well as give my friend Lulu some much needed Shadow Naoto love. Hope you like it, Lulu!
> 
> \- As that first note alludes, I'm now offering up commissions! I'm at a penny per word, so 500 words = $5, 1000 words = $10, 2000 words = $20, and so on and so forth. I'm also leaving open one deluxe commission box, which is 4,000 words for $50. If you have a Persona fic you want to see, think about heading over to my Twitter (@KingHippo42) and dropping me a message and we'll chat? Thanks a million!


End file.
